Under The Stars
by trimens
Summary: Although he lives life by a clear conscience, Gray Fullbuster often experiences nights of pure regret. Lucy Heartfilia, a teammate, stumbles upon the ice make mage and surprises the both of him when he accidentally opens up about his past and his guilty mind. [A GrayLu Birthday present for a friend c: ]


**HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGE~! Well, belated, but this story turned out longer than I thought it'd be u **

**I hope you enjoyed your birthday and the many blessings you were given~! Here is your lovely OTP darling, and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Warning: This **_**is **_**a GrayLu fic. Please do not come here just to post your hate. If you want to see another pairing, leave that below and I'll get back to you on it c:**

* * *

There it was again.

Those agonizing, yet peaceful eyes were watching him once more. From beneath the figure's feet, a seed of ice began to grow. Frosty vines stemmed out of the little bud in mass hordes. The vines quickly wound themselves around the woman's legs, thorns digging into her white skin, though not a single drop of blood was drawn.

He fought forward with all of his might, suddenly feeling as though concrete bricks had been weighing his feet down.

"Stop!" The scream rang, surprisingly ripping from his own throat. He reached forward, eyes catching sight of the small fingers and palms in place of his usual hands. However, his attention returned back to the woman dissolving in the crystallizing ice. "No! Stop it!"

The woman raised her hand rigidly as the ice began to spread down her arm, reaching her palms quickly like a growing disease. The tips of her fingers quivered, stroking his cheek gently while a hopeful smile pulled the corners of her lips.

_Don't be sad._

Her voice spoke to him so clearly without her lips moving by the slightest. The ice embedded itself into her cheeks, swallowing her face within seconds. He couldn't do anything to stop it but merely continue screaming, "Please, stop... please!"

A small bead of ice escaped the woman's eye, rolling down her cheek before the ice shattered into glittering shavings of crystals.

_Gray._

* * *

"Ur!"

The young man sprang up in his bed, sweat dampening his sheets as they clung to his body. As of now, he was panting, catching his breath from the horrible dream—no, nightmare—that decided to haunt him that night. There was nothing worse than one of those visions that he tried so hard to banish from his head. With Lyon's forgiveness, and even Ultear's... there shouldn't have been a speck of guilt to hold him down.

However, here he was... burning with heat as though Natsu had setting his mattress on fire in his sleep. It was a trivial prank that was returned with a bed of ice.

Gray raised his hand to his face, touching his cheeks with frozen fingertips that instantaneously began to cool him down. With a relieved sigh, he patiently sat upright in his bed until a sense of calmness took over him. As he waited, he squinted at his window where the moon was incredulously bright, shining through his glass pane and illuminating the room with a fair, pale beam.

The scare left his heart racing, like the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins when he was getting pumped for a battle against Natsu or Erza. There was no way he could sleep now... at least, not right away. Reluctantly, he peeled off his covers and tossed his legs over the side of his bed. The first thing he'd need to do was look for some clothes... those would definitely be helpful out in the public.

Butt naked, he crossed his room to a simple dresser and pulled out a few layers that would do good for the middle of the night. He absentmindedly began to pull on underwear, and then...

His hand released his shirt, deciding that that was enough for now. After all, it was _night_. No one would be seeing him anyway. Underwear was just for a safety precaution in case of those pesky knights were running around bars.

Silently, he crept out of the boarding house for the men of Fairy Tail, stepping out with a giant lump in the middle of his throat, like a pill he was forced to dry swallow. It stuck inside him, refusing to move. The only thing he could do was walk... keep walking until it went away.

* * *

_Plip. Plip. Plip. Plip._

Smooth and circular ice pellets formed within Gray's hand, like a frozen gem hovering in his palm. Feeling it dance across his fingers, his mind subconsciously gathered a feel of the small creation before the ice make mage flicked it. The frozen rock shot forward, skipping along the surface of the water in small hops before sinking into the black ocean.

The ocean was dark beneath the sky. Glittering lights shimmered across the sea, reflecting the heavenly stars from up above. In the center, between two distant mountains, the mirrored moon within the water laid perfectly still in the undisturbed waters. It was such a still night, only weighing more on his conscious by adding despair to the atmosphere.

"Wasn't it a night like this, Ur?" He sighed, lowering his hand to his side as stared out into deep waters. His fingers tightened around the ball of ice in his hand, his forming fist quivering with resentment.

"It's not my fault," Gray whispered through his gritted teeth. On most days, his mind was clear of all guilt, but there were always a few nights where his memories indulged in haunting his dreams. A brisk walk always cleared his head and remembering both of Lyon's and Ultear's words that usually comforted him. However the night was just so similar to the one where Deliora had frozen over, thus ending the physical life of his teacher. She had rescued _him_, and he repaid her by watching idly as she melted away.

"It's not my fault!" He howled, whipping the massive block of ice into the water. His lower lip trembled as he attempted to try and believe those words again. However, they did not work tonight as his safety barrier. A stray tear escaped, rolling down his cheek as he let out a frustrated cry. He didn't care if it was his fault any longer... he simply wanted Ur back and to have her tousle his hair while laughing, "Stupid Gray."

"Please, come back..." he whispered, his shoulders falling limp as he stared up at the sky. He fell onto the sand, lying back as he began to drift off in the comfort of the cold night. It reminded him of the days where he and Lyon were forced to camp out in the snow banks, in order to _familiarize_ with the cold. He chuckled, his eyelids growing heavy...

"Gray?"

Ur stood over him alongside Lyon with an impatient glare in her eyes. She had her fists on her hips, and a teasing smirk deepening into her face with every passing second as she watched her pupil snore away. Kicking the droopy-eyed student in the side, she rolled him over with the heel of her foot. The woman swept down, lowering her hand to his cheek as she called to him once again.

"Gray, wake up!" She called, though there was something off about her voice. It was unusually perkier, and... younger? The voice—whoever it was—was still familiar.

"Gray, get off the sand! Go home!"

Eyes snapping open, the first thing he noticed was the blonde hovering over him with a bewildered expression painted over her face. The illusion of Ur and Lyon melted away into Lucy's, her hand lightly slapping at Gray's face before she poked around his mouth. When she realized that he was coming to, she sighed and straightened up, placing her hands on her waist as she shook her head. From one of her wrists swung a canvas bag, obviously with something inside.

"What? Lucy?" He asked, squinting up at the celestial spirit mage to make sure it was her. Yawning, he stretched his arms up and touched his cheek, feeling blood heat against his touch. Realizing that he had been slapped a few times, he narrowed his eyes on the blonde and asked, "Did you hit me?"

Lucy shrugged her shoulders sheepishly and bowed forward, cocking her head to the side with a puzzled look. "Why are you sleeping here in the middle of the night?" She asked just before her eyes trailed down to his underwear. Sighing, she rolled her eyes and pointed to his pant-less legs, before commenting, "And where are your clothes?"

"Who cares," Gray muttered back irritably, rolling over to his side to ignore her upcoming complaints. "What are _you_ doing out here at this time? Shouldn't you be home?"

Lucy sighed and lowered herself next to Gray, squatting in the sand as she bitterly began to doodle in the sand. "I went to buy groceries after dinner, and when I got home, Natsu and Happy were already there and having a pillow fight," she grumbled. "They also somehow managed to burn my bed sheets and pillows."

Withdrawing from her bag, she revealed neatly folded linens. They were royal blue in colour, bright and bold. "I borrowed these from Erza since the store was closed," she sighed miserably, propping her elbow onto her knee and resting her chin onto her hand.

Gray glanced over his shoulder and managed a chuckle as he pointed to the sheets. "You better not let Natsu ruin those or Erza will kill you," he teased, pushing himself up so that he was sitting upright.

After an anxious laugh, Lucy made herself comfortable as well beside her teammate and placed her bag at her feet, stretching her legs as she released a deep breath.

"So, why are you here?" She asked, doodling in the sand with her finger before glancing back at Gray.

The mage stiffened as he turned his face away uneasily, staring at the ocean rather than his friend. "I was just here thinking," he explained. He held out his hand and concentrated on the center of his palm until a gem formed. It was in the shape of a delicate and intricate snowflake.

"Oh, pretty," Lucy gasped, her eyes wide and amazed. She reached over to touch the flawless creation, but Gray whipped his arm back and threw it has far as he could into the ocean, bitter and seething with frustration. Startled by the throw, Lucy flinched and merely stared at Gray as he crossed his arms and rested them above his raised knees. Her eyes softened as she slowly craned her neck to face him, but Gray quickly buried his face into his arms. "Gray?" This time her voice had softened to a near whisper.

"What?" He muttered.

The girl didn't respond at first, simply watching the boy until deducing that he wasn't interested in telling his tale.

"Isn't the sky pretty?" She sighed dreamily, digging her hands into the sand as she stargazed at the view ahead. "The moon is so big... I don't think I've ever seen it like that."

Gray raised his face from his cradling arms to the lunar celestial body that hung in the sky. He knew it was a nice sight, but he didn't really take in the great face. It looked familiar to him, much like the time on Galuna Island. During the battle with Lyon, he had despised the moon for ruining his teacher's sacrifice—melting the ice that was her very being.

His fingers began to squeeze his arms, a low growl rolling at the pit of his throat. Lucy peered over fearfully, foreign to the sound that Gray had been making. He had been so worked up and she still could not figure out what was bothering him.

"Okay, I get it," she said in defeat, ceasing the estranged noise from the boy. "I don't know what's going on, but let's do something that my mother and I would do when I was small. It used to cheer me up."

Gray glanced over, confused but nodded his head warily. "Sure, I guess," he mumbled, reclining back with a hint of annoyance scrunching his face. "What's your idea?"

"Okay," Lucy began, clearing her throat as she pointed to a cluster of bright stars.

"This is the story of Leo," she began, lowering her hand to her side before turning to Gray. "He is a brave and fierce lion that fights for justice. He is like a knight in shining armor, as my mother says."

"Is he now?" Gray asked, smirking at the thought of his orange-haired friend proudly puffing his chest up.

Lucy frowned and pressed her palm to her forehead, shaking her head at the image of Loke dramatically running after her tail. "Yeah, I guess," she murmured, before dismissing the scene. "Anyway, Loke—I mean, Leo—was known across the land as the most valiant warrior. He took on many demons and monsters to save the people that he cared about. However, he fell in love with a princess who was unattainable to him."

Gray cocked a brow, as though insinuating a particular theory. With a cross glare, Lucy scoffed and continued determinedly.

"She was the princess of the moon, and all of the people of the stars _knew_ that the princess of the moon was doomed to live her life all alone. Leo loved the princess more than anything, but he was never able to be with her. He spent countless nights watching her with the utmost awe and wonder, marvelling in her flawless beauty. However, she was in a place that was unreachable by any star or man. In desperation to see her, Leo sought help through his wisest friends—Pisces."

Lucy raised her hand momentarily to point to another group of twinkling lights before continuing on. "Pisces is the very being of a mother and her son. He went to them in dire help and asked how he could meet his beloved. They told him, 'You must show that your love is greater than everything you hold dear to prove yourself. Come back once you find the thing most precious to you, and we will send you to the princess.' Leo had no idea express his love because he had no idea what was most dear to him. He'd give it up in a heartbeat if he knew."

Gray chuckled and ruffled his hair, wondering what Loke might have been saying if he had heard Lucy's story. "Did he end up finding what was most dear to him?"

Lucy's eyes lowered to the ground as she nodded her head solemnly. "Yes, he did," she said with a somber expression. "It was his eyes: his ability to see the good and bad in all things, and his window to staring at the beauty of the princess of the moon. That was his treasure."

Gray nodded silently in order to allow the girl to continue with her tale.

"Returning to Pisces, Leo told them it was his sight that was most treasured to him. He offered his ability to see in order to be sent to the princess, but admitted to being nervous. When asked why, he told Pisces that he did not know if the princess would accept a blind being like himself. Out his shyness, Pisces brought forth a pair of glasses for him to wear to hide his sightlessness. And that is how Leo got his glasses."

Lucy beamed proudly as she turned to Gray in anticipation for his reaction.

Unfortunately, his dumbfounded face was not in her favor. "Is that it?" Gray managed to say through his attempts at withholding a laugh. "Is that your ending?"

"What?" Lucy whined, crossing her arms over her voluptuous chest. "I thought that went well!"

"Man, the imagination of a writer..." Gray's voiced faded out before he burst into a fit of laughter, unable to control the urge any longer. Lucy pouted, but to see the boy smile rather than gloom out in despair was much more relieving to her. Gray peered back to find a soft smile on her lips, one that he could only return with his own with a tint of a blush on his cheeks. "Uh, so you did that with your mother?" He asked, attempting to move on.

Lucy nodded her head and pulled out her gate keys onto her lap, stroking the pouch lovingly. "Yes, my mother was a celestial spirit mage too and she loved them very much. She taught me everything I know, and doing this sort of thing... it makes me miss her, I guess."

Gray watched Lucy in a peaceful quiet as the girl offered a pained smile, but not quite entirely at him. It was distant and nostalgic, in a sense. She was smiling at something bittersweet which Gray believed to be her parents; something the two were unfortunately deprived of.

"I know what you mean," Gray sighed, scratching the back of his head as he peered out into the waters once again. "Ur was kind of like a... _parent_ to me... I guess." His eyes slanted away sheepishly as he thought back to the prodigious ice make mage. "She taught me everything _I_ know about magic and I guess—"

Gray was suddenly caught off guard by Lucy's wide, attentive eyes that were focused solely on him. The intensity of her stare forced him to redden, cheeks tingeing scarlet. He quickly scrambled to his feet, dusting the sand off his boxers before stepping toward the water. Holding out a fist, he slammed it against his other flattened palm before a bright, chilling light exploded from his hands. From his mouth, a spell sprung forth and a freezing wind blew forward. A pathway of ice materialized onto the surface of the ocean, just under a hundred feet away.

"Come on," he called, jerking his chin toward the end of the floor of ice before heading ahead.

He tilted his face toward the ground as he casually glided forward, raising a hand to conceal his flustered face. It was just a little_ too _close for comfort with the celestial spirit mage.

Once he reached the end of the path, Gray came to a stop and looked over the edge of his frozen dock. It wasn't long until Lucy came up from behind him, teetering back and forth in an unstable fashion before grasping onto his arm to regain balance. "What are we doing here?" She asked, peeking over his shoulder at the sea.

"Ur was like my mother too, I guess. Mine and Lyon's," he continued, sliding past Lucy's inquiry. "She taught me so many things, gave me more than I could ever ask, and showed me the true meaning of what magic should be used for, and still..."

Nearly choking on his words, Gray stopped in mid-sentence. A shaky breath escaped between his lips as he ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. "I wasn't able to _save_ her! She died because of she had to come and rescue me. _Me_!" He was sobbing now, screaming through the wave of misery that overtook him. "Things would be different if Ur was alive. The world would be better!"

Gray cried. He had done so much to keep those bottled tears inside of him but they somehow managed to burst out from within. It was worse that someone was watching him, but this _someone_ wasn't just another wandering soul. She was a teammate; a friend; someone dear.

While he stood silently, Lucy—who still hadn't released him—gave Gray a reassuring squeeze before she leaned forward to face him. "Gray, she did this for you, you know? I don't know Ur, but..." Lucy slowly took a step closer to the boy before resting a hand on his back, stroking him lightly before continuing. "I know that when someone is willing to die for you, it must mean they love you. She meant for _you_ to live, not her."

Gray's shoulders quivered but he did not retaliate against her words, and nodded instead. "I know, I just—she should be here."

"Hmm... I think she is," Lucy stated confidently, releasing Gray and tossing her hands into the air once again. She grasped Gray's hand and tugged on his fingers gently, forcing him to look down at her. She smiled tenderly before pointing to the ocean. "She's there, isn't she? In the water that _you_ use in your magic every day; she's with you, Gray. Always has been, I bet!"

Lucy beamed gleefully as she laced her fingers around his soothingly, suddenly coming to realization how awkward the situation had become.

"Uh, let's just go home, okay?" She managed to peep quickly, shuffling back toward the beach as she dragged a grateful Gray behind her.

"Oi, Lucy," he called to her as she busily scurried faster.

"Yeah?" She responded, glancing over her shoulder at the droopy-eyed boy.

Before she could react, a hand shot forward and wrapped itself around her chin, tugging sharply. A pair of cold, icy but intense lips met hers passionately for a quick, stolen kiss.

"Gray!" Lucy shrieked, releasing his hand as she staggered back, falling onto the ice in a frantic manner. "...Y-you pervert!" Lucy shrieked, slapping her hands over her mouth as her face burned a bright red. Her heart was beating erratically, threatening to fall right out of her chest.

The ice make mage merely smirked and chuckled. Skating toward the blonde, he managed to grasp Lucy by her arm and tug her onto her feet. "Thanks for everything," he crooned, before leading the way back home.


End file.
